


Just On The Inside

by dianamolloy



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies), Tom Hiddleston - Fandom
Genre: Angst, Avengers Tower, BDSM, Daddy Kink, Dom/sub, F/M, Fluff, Kinky, Memory Loss, Rough Sex, Smut, fat female character, no body shaming, plus size, plus size character, plus size reader
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-17
Updated: 2018-07-13
Packaged: 2019-03-04 19:02:05
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,118
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13371132
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dianamolloy/pseuds/dianamolloy
Summary: Loki is working with the Avengers as punishment from Odin for trying to take over Midgard.Ara has killed twenty men, messily, in a locked comms room within seconds of them entering at the American embassy in London, with no knowledge of how.Taken to NYC on Fury’s orders, Loki is to shadow her and find out what she can do.AU Ara from my other story (Just on the Other Side) but you don't need to have read that to understand this.Smut from Ch3.





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It’s my 1y anni of writing this time around (initially ‘03-05 in Vampire Chronicles fandom but that was both solo but also RP elements and writing with others) in a few weeks and I’ve been missing RPG. Writing alone is, well not that much fun always. I don’t know where people find writing based roleplay these days, in my day we used LiveJournal.

“Hey, Blue Man Group,” Loki faltered and twisted with an expression that contained a soupçon of hatred around the eyes but was mostly irreverence. Hate itself not worthy on one so insignificant. Stark was inside of the kitchen - a kitchen, the main kitchen for the team but there were seven within the Towers, not including the food hall within the Avengers Museum located on the top floor and operated with three lifts which only travelled between penthouse and ground. Loki strode in, halting his journey toward a training area several floors down after a less than agreeable  _discussion_ with Thor. The latter of whom, Loki smirked in fondness, now sported various slices, including one to his neck. Though his own head felt constricted by his mildly swelling brain; Mjolnir was not a pleasant item to be struck with. In the face. Three times.

”Kindly keep your barbs regarding my parentage, of which you understand nothing, out of your bawdy mouth,” his words as sharp as icicles. 

“What’s there to understand, the big sky papa took you in when the Smurfs tossed you out on your ear,” Tony shrugged, swilling the scotch in the crystal glass before downing it, despite it barely being eleven A.M. Without answering him, Loki made a bid to leave or else he would bisect the intolerable man but was interrupted, “hey, hey where are you going? I have a mission for you.”

Finally, someone he could kill. Delightful. Part of his punishment from the All-... Odin, was that he serve penance helping these protectors of Midgard and Thor would remain with him to ensure his compliance.

The black suit evaporated and in its place, with a shimmer of green and gold as he transformed, stood the newly battle ready, fully helmeted, Loki.

Tony held a hand up, “slight misunderstanding, it’s not that sort of mission so you can remove the ridiculous costume and cape,” his raised hand gestured at Loki’s attire.

“You fly in a coloured tin can,” Loki dryly commented, disgruntled that there would be no release from his bubbling aggression. His horns disappeared but he kept the rest of the outfit, the familiarity appealing to him.

“And I look good doing it. Look, Fury’s dropping off a girl. Low on the details but there’s an issue of twenty dead men within a few seconds of entering a locked comms room, blood everywhere and no weapons. Think of it as a high tech Agatha Christie,” as a voracious reader who spent more time in his rooms with a book than mingling with any of the Avengers, Loki understood the reference.

Fury, yes, the other repugnant, one-eyed complication in his life. Loki idly wondered if among the many universes and time-streams, was there always an eye patched vexation in the way of his plans.

”How does this concern me?”

”You’re the babysitter,” Stark grinned.

”No,” Loki would fight, he had spent centuries engaged in battles at Odin’s behest that he neither had interest in nor agreed with. He would use his cunning and magic in return for the the escape from boredom in the palace dungeons of Asgard. He would not play host to a silly mortal.

”Don’t be like that,” Tony sauntered forward and attempted to place his arms around Loki’s shoulders, to antagonise the God, of course, not in any real display of camaraderie. Loki sidestepped his advances. “Nat and Barton are on leave with the family we’re not supposed to know exists, Cap’ and Metallic G.I. Joe are on a hush-hush H.Y.D.R.A. thing, and busy with their even more hush-hush affair, so that leaves you as the winner. I’m apparently not allowed because, and I quote, S.H.I.E.L.D wants to find out what she can do, not how bangable she is. Like I couldn’t do both.”

Sensing the hyper-active billionaire had tired himself out with his show off speech, Loki finding the way he casually revealed everyone’s private affairs distasteful, he prepared himself to disagree by simply removing himself when the perfect replacement walked in.  Glasses askew on the end of his nose, grey shirt somewhat crumpled and hair needing a good brush after undoubtably a night in the lab “him,” Loki pointed toward Bruce Banner.

”Me what?” Bruce looked to the both of them.

”No can do, we want her to be observed and whatever her secret skills, we don’t know if she’s immune to being ‘smashed’ by the other guy,” Tony filled in Bruce quickly

“No, he’s right. It wouldn’t be safe,” a shadow crossed over the tired man’s face. He didn’t know the precise details but Bruce limited his contact with those not part of the team, the danger of hurting someone too great a burden for him to take unnecessary chances.

”See, that leaves you as the welcome committee, unless you don’t want to be cooperative,” Loki did not in fact wish to ever be cooperative but the threat of Odin was implied.

”When?” his nostrils flared but otherwise Loki kept his temper in check.

”It’s your lucky day, J.A.R.V.I.S tells me she, along with two suits, just pulled up and are being taken to the conference room on the Ground Floor. Time to put on your best Princely smile and work with her to find out what she knows. So far she’s not been any trouble.”

Loki did not reply and side-stepping Banner he continued his journey toward the lifts that he had originally been heading for, this time with a different destination.

Ara fiddled with a loose thread on her sleeve, testing it to see if it was the sort where pulling it would leave a clean fix or tug and tear at a series of other threads and ruin it. Chancing the former she yanked, and was attempting to cut it with her teeth when two things happened, firstly the damn thing revealed itself as the latter and a small hole tore open on the seam near her wrist and secondly a tall - really very tall - man dressed in a cape walked in.

”You may leave,” Loki spoke with the certainty of one used to being obeyed and the Agents, whose mission was simply to deliver the female, nodded and did just that.

”Bye guys,” Ara muttered with an English accented voice to the retreating men who did not turn back. Eight hour flight on a private plane from London and she had barely heard ten words from the men combined.

“Come with me,” there was the authoritative tone again, one which barely hid its disinterest.

”Does anybody from this country have manners?” Ara caught herself afterward because Loki, oh yes she recognised him from television and the internet, was obviously not American.

”I am Loki of Asgard, and I am not,” his nose practically wrinkled at the idea, “an American.”

”I know, who you are, I mean. It was a stupid slip. But you couldn’t have started with your name instead of ‘come’?” Ara was very tired, and hungry, which resulted in the mild petulance she was displaying despite being almost thirty-five years old.

”Whats your name?” Loki ignored her the same way he was used to being deaf to Tony’s running of the mouth as he slid into one of the seats around the glass and chrome table so he directly faced the woman. She was, by his estimate, a foot shorter than himself but quite average in height for a Midgardian. Her blonde hair fell past her shoulders and framed her pale, rounded face which held a small nose, lips with a slight overbite and deep brown eyes. Unlike most who worked and lived here, including himself, her shape was larger. Zaftig curves, everything about her looked soft.

“Ara,” she responded.

The smell, which had been niggling at him clicked into place. Her long, black dress did not show but it must have soaked into her clothing, “your garments, they’re covered in blood.”

Ara’s lips trembled until she bit the bottom one to stop it, “they wouldn’t let me go home, or provide me with anything. I got a quick wash in the airport but there’s not a lot I could do, it wouldn’t come off. The sinks were too small and it was cold wearing this damp thing the whole way,”  Ara spoke at the table, not meeting Loki’s eyes.

Loki found himself almost pitying her, there was clearly no need to have allowed her to travel in such discomfort, “the blood, where did it come from?”

”I don’t know, they told me that I broke into an embassy and that I killed people, I woke up and everyone was dead but it wasn’t me. I couldn’t, I don’t know how to fight and they were torn apa-apart,” Ara’s whole body trembled now and she took a few moments to steady herself before pressing on. “Really I don’t, two teenagers stole my phone last year and I just handed the thing over. I’m just, I’m normal! And I want to go home.” 

The God of Lies sensed only honesty coming from the girl, her distress and what she said were completely truthful, “if you were not the cause of the deaths, do you not wish to facilitate the Avengers,” he personally did not include himself among them, “in discovering who is to blame?”

Ara wanted to tell him that she really didn’t, that going home mattered most to her but guilt and a sense of decency over the people who we’re deas held her back, “I don’t know how I can be of help but yes, okay, I can try.”

”Good girl,” Loki automatically praised Ara, who frowned lightly but didn’t rebuff what he said. 

Loki pushed his chair back and waited for Ara to copy him, they headed to the door and his hand ghosted over the small of her back as his mind reached out to explore hers. The surface relayed to him the usual, uninteresting, Midgardian activities and emotions that he was accustomed to seeing them display. The pushback of resistance registered soon after and before Loki had the opportunity to decide how to proceed, he found himself flying backwards and slamming against the glass table unexpectedly, shattering it upon impact with his heavy frame. His clothing protected him from the worst of it but tiny shards imbeddd itself in his hands, which Loki ignored. Cold so extreme it burned and clutched at his heart, and where Ara had stood moments before an inky black copy of herself now faced him. It was not only her skin that was so dark it absorbed all light but everything from her eyeballs to her tongue was this one shade, absent of any colour. Her obsidian hair whipped around her even though there was no breeze.

”I am Death,” the voice slithered it’s way inside of Loki’s mind, setting his very soul on edge.

Before anything more could be said or done by either, Ara collapsed. Her knees bending from under her and as she collided with the ground unconscious, her hair and skin returning to normal on impact.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The video of Nick Park massaging Hiddles for Early Man to get the vibrating tone has had me in mild hysterics. Oh and I rewatched Skull Island and I am CONVINCED Tom’s tshirt sleeves were taken in. They are too short, like shorter than normal tops and show off his biceps more than anyone else wearing a tee.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't forget this, I even keep adding to my notes little bits and pieces. All I want is to have something read my mind and type things out. Better yet, turn the pictures/scenes I can see into words. Why is the future failing me?! I'm already having to make do without flying cars.

With Ara crumpling under herself, Loki sat up, pausing for a few beats until the feeling of his teeth being set on edge dissipated. The broken glass fell from him noisily as he lifted himself upward stretching out his neck where it had landed on the steel of the table which held the glass, his  _Seidr_ extracting the implanted glass and each tiny wound healing instantaneously. Underfoot the woman looked utterly mortal, albeit a sickly and pallid version, covered with a sheen of sweat. Ensuring no more debris remained on his clothing Loki bent to lift her, the dampness of her clothing clammy against his skin and leaving slight wet marks upon the leather of his garments, which was when Hawkeye and Black Widow entered the office - the family vacation evidently over - the former with his bow out and Natasha in a fighting stance.

"Loki, put the girl down," Natasha said, her voice at the same pitch one would use when addressing a wild animal you were trying to keep calm. One she herself had heard many times before directed at her.

"You heard her," Clint's aim was straight and pointing to Loki's head.

"Step out of my way," Loki moved forward ignoring their theatrics. "Ask the automated system, this is not my doing." 

"J.A.R.V.I.S., what happened here," Black Widow, whose lack of grudge at theJötunn criminal allowed her better clarity spoke. Neither agent relaxed their pose and Loki fought the urge to shove past both or simpler yet disappear. The soothing, robotic voice that was heard confirmed Loki's innocence and Natasha - along with Clint a beat later - relaxed.

"Where are you going with her?" Clint may no longer have been pointing his weapon at Loki but he still mistrusted the alien’s motives.

"She needs to go to the sickbay," Natasha said.

"They would be ill equipped to deal with what I witnessed," Loki this time did go between the agents and out of the room.

"Banner's lab, then," Natasha called.

"Where do you think I was headed," Loki didn't turn back. Truthfully, he didn't relish the idea of being confined in the haphazard scientist's laboratory. Even knowing the control the man used to stop him turning into the green beast, his unkempt demeanour left Loki with a sense of concern over how someone who could not even organise themselves would be successful in wielding the authority required at keeping the Hulk buried, and the more distance he was able to arrange to keep between them the better. 

He contemplated simply leaving the girl with Banner as he made his way down identically bland corridors and took two lifts, the male and female S.H.I.E.L.D agents who had been waiting for the first seemed to change their minds when they caught sight of Loki and the female he held. He _might_ have aided their decision by staring a beat too long and giving the barest narrowing of his eyes. The second elevator was programmed to open only to certain personnel as it included the Avenger's - and his, he was  _not_ an Avenger - sleeping quarters. Loki was not accustomed to experiencing what he had in that boardroom, not only the transformation but what reached at him and he didn't want to be caught unaware again, which would involve doing more than just playing courier with the motionless body in his arms.

The mechanical whooshing of the entrance granted him access seconds after stepping into the camera’s view, nobody could enter unless someone on the other side let them through; Stark could override this, of course, and Loki could simply use magic if he so cared to but for all intents and purposes it was private. He could see on one of the screens Ara’s transformed body was pictured, good he wouldn’t have to explain everything from the very start.

“Put her on the table there,” Bruce gestured to the metal slab past a set of clear doors this time, these also mechanical as if Tony was personally offended at the thought of anything luddite in his Tower.

“Your readings,” Loki said when he was in the same room as Bruce once again, “how deep do they delve?”

”The usual ECG, MRI, CT, X-Ray. I’ll take bloods to see if there’s anything in her system that matches with any of the non terrestrials we have in S.H.I.E.L.D’s database, which I don’t think they’re aware Tony built a backdoor entrance to,” he had rattled off a number of things which weren’t actually usual to Loki but he didn’t interrupt or question. “If physiologically that doesn’t bring up much I’m limited as to what I can do.”

Loki was satisfied to hear that, the last thing they needed would be for whatever had shown itself to surface. He would be more prepared for it a second time but, and loathe to admit as he was, the encounter had taken from him, he felt a weariness about himself magically. Observing the monitors, the scrolling tables and numbers not meaning a great deal to him but interesting in a small measure nevertheless, hours passed by. During this time Ara did not rise, though Banner informed him that she wasn’t comatose based on the activity in her brain. Food was delivered to the lab twice, Loki declining to participate, and when he noticed in the early hours of the morning that the other man had gone from rubbing his eyes to having them look heavy he shimmered, leaving a copy of himself where he sat, into the glass walled room. This would be the second if not third day the Scientist had not rested in a row and Loki was growing impatient with the lack of information the mortal could provide; had Barton and Romanov not interrupted him he _had_ been weighing up the options of taking her to his work-room within his private rooms. Their unwelcome return had meant it was far easier to take Ara to someone he suspected would find nothing than argue or risk the intrusion of the pair, or Stark, in his space. 

Drawing a hand across a pale forehead down to her cheek, the skin was dry to the touch now and at least visually she seemed to be improving, there was a small amount of colour to her lips and cheeks. Much more delicately than he had previously, Loki probed the very outskirts of Ara’s mind and found it utterly mortal, to the point of uninteresting. Delving further was tempting, to see if he could reach just before whatever had caused the change but he tamped his curiosity. It was this distraction that made Loki miss Ara opening her eyes and being confused that the extremely tall alien from earlier, the bossy but still considerably nicer than the agents who had brought her, had a hand on her face and was leaning over her.

”Why am I lying down? _Where_ am I lying down?”

Green met brown as Loki took in the newly awakened Ara, “you fainted,” he lied and stepped back to allow her the room to sit up.

”You moved me?”

Banner, Loki could see was still asleep and from where Ara was located she could neither view this nor his seated double, “to the infirmary to asses your health.”

”Fancy medical room,” Ara did look around her now, some of her view blocked by Loki’s wide chest. “Do I have to stay here?” She hated the look of this sparse space, as empty as the interrogation room she had been locked in before being taken from car to plane to car again before being left here.

”It’s considerably later than when you arrived, it’s close to dusk.”

”This huge building there’s not one small bedroom, or someone’s office with a sofa I can stay in?” Ara looked pleadingly at Loki, being left now more frightening than being passed out all day, who felt that almost pity he’d experienced earlier go through him.

”Wait here,” when she looked like she was about to protest he held a hand up and tried to not sound dismissive as his double disappeared, these mortals were so needy, “I’ll be back in a moment.”

The sound of the examination room mechanics roused Bruce who took in his patient, awake and upright, and Loki joining him on this side.

”Am I correct in thinking that you’ve found nothing?”

”I ran the tests I said I would and they came back normal enough, humans don’t usually change colour and I’m a physisist not a general practitioner trained in alien species’,” the tiredness had made him waspish. Which on anyone else would be fine but for Bruce any sign of wavering mood caused the start of a panic that his practiced mind was already quietly gauging for danger whilst it reassured him in a bid to control it. 

“The girl doesn’t wish to stay, as hospitable as you’ve been, and as you’ve found nothing to explain what occurred it’s time for someone more experienced to take a look.”

Bruce wanted to retort, the cocky demi-god’s goading was always expected yet frustratingly frequently successful. He didn’t, control mattered more, it always had to come first, “ leave everything as you found it,” was the last thing he said before taking himself out of this environment to the safe confines of his rooms.

Nobody felt confident being vulnerable and asleep so close to Loki which was why he occupied half a floor to himself and was where he took Ara, picking an empty bedroom a couple of doors from his.

She dithered outside the parted door Loki had walked her to until she questioned him, “I don’t want to start asking too much but is there something else I could wear?”

It was then that it registered to him that Ara was still clad in the clothes she had committed murder in. Dry, the smell of blood almost imperceptible unless you knew what you were looking for. With a nod a small pile of garments appeared in his hands and Loki pressed them onto Ara’s palm, pausing in wait until she went in and the click of the lock sounded.


	3. Chapter 3

Unexpectedly Ara slept once she fell into bed, having changed from that messy dress which she hoped never to see again, it had before two days ago been her favourite. There hadn't been any underwear within the little pile that Loki had given her so she had, after a quick look around the large room which resembled a fancy hotel room - in that it had no personality but seemed expensive - gone into the en-suite and stripped, leaving the garment in a corner and hand-washed both bra and knickers, placing them to dry on a towel rail. The shower took a few seconds to figure out, there was a whole motion sensor thing fitted and no instructions but once she had the water raining down it felt like heaven. At least until her eyes cast downward and she noticed a red tinge to the water, which made her screw them shut for the rest of the wash. There was no getting away from why she was here and even if she was certain she hadn't hurt anyone, the bodies, she had seen them. It had been...messy. The grey sweatpants and jumper were warm, she chose not to put on the black vest that had been with them, and Ara was grateful; it wasn't cold but being covered in something fleecy felt comforting.

Unsurprisingly that while sleep came it wasn't dream free. They played out in abstract ways the way dreams always do but the horror and viscera were present time and time again, behind that though, hidden within wisps of clouds and smoke, was something she couldn't access but filled her with dread. A tightening in her throat that stopped the screams from pushing themselves out of her. After several attempts to rest all ended in waking with her mouth wide open, blankets twisted and the shower now useless as she was covered in sweat, Ara gave up. Climbing out from the bed she wanted to open a window but the blinds that she moved to the side, finding no button to operate or anything as useful as a pulley system, showed how much like a hotel the Avengers Tower was as it was plain glass. Clearly there would be aircon but her  _host_ hadn't shown her around and someone was really going to have to explain to her how everything worked if she was to stay here another night. At least the toilet was a standard toilet, no three-seashells business or a Japanese Toto. 

Opening the window hadn't been a success but Ara could at least tell that it looked like dawn from the outside smattering of light when she had been behind them. The room didn't have anything as useful as an alarm clock and, to satisfy a weird curiosity she looked in the nightstand drawer but it was empty, no bible. She knew this wasn't really a hotel but it wasn't set up like a house so she couldn't help but check for the standard and expected items. The other thing it didn't have, the one she really would have appreciated, was a mini fridge. Whether a tiny bottle of gin was a good idea or not so early in the morning wasn't the only reason, her stomach rumbled and she had that nauseous I need to eat feeling which a small pot of nuts could have gone into some way of helping correct. The wood panelled cupboards on the walls had no handles and if a TV lived behind one of them Ara didn't know so all she could do was wait until someone?, Loki?, fetched her. She checked the bra and knickers for dryness and it might not have been bone dry but it was comfortable enough to wear so after washing the nightmare sweats off in a second shower, Ara put them on along with the track pants though this time choosing the lighter vest over the sweatshirt. Nothing would make her get back into her old attire - currently covered by one of the towels so it was less noticeable against the white tiling and she could ignore it better - not even if Loki made what she was wearing disappear the way he had made them appear in the first place. If the window had opened she probably would have flung the offending item out of it, even if she found herself with some hefty fine for littering NYC.

That had been odd the magic business, Ara reflected; she knew about the Avengers of course and there had been articles about their powers in newspapers, though how accurate those were who knew as beyond Tony Stark nobody else had chosen to give interviews, but to see Loki so casually make a pile of things appear in his hands was in hindsight quite a big deal to her. At the time while still tired, full of shock at everything and overall numb she hadn't thought much of it but with a clearer head she found herself pondering what else he could do. She made the bed and sat on top of it, legs crossed underneath herself and let her mind drift.

Loki hadn't quite realised how well the absence of others nearby had suited him until his space was invaded by the girl. She may be several rooms away but for Loki she might as well have been on top of him, and not in any pleasing way. This invasion of his privacy was unpleasant to him, having grown up in a palace where all their chambers were of a distance from anyone else's, the only times he found himself in close quarters were during battles. Even then he would regularly soundproof his tents to mimic solitude. Loki had chosen not to do that here, the events of what the girl, Ara, had morphed into made him wish to keep himself aware of her movements but he hadn’t quite expected her to literally keep moving around. Those senses alerted him to when she woke, rousing him from his light sleep earlier than he intended, albeit not by much but enough to rankle him. Interesting as what had occured mght be to him that Loki had not palmed her off, there was no reason his personal scheduled needed to be disturbed. Taking his time with his own morning routine, the familiar repetition soothing as if nothing had changed, the sun was breaking through the horizon when he knocked once against her door before entering.

”Hey!” a jumpy Ara called out in annoyance. “You’re meant to wait til the other person says come in.”

”Why?”

That caught Ara off guard, Loki wasn’t exactly asking in good faith she could tell from his disinterested expression but he seemed to genuinely not understand why she might have wanted a minute, “I mean I could have been undressed.”

”You weren’t.”

”That’s not exactly the point.”

A look that seemed to imply that he thought she was stupid crossed his face, “I knew that you were not. Will you stop being petulant or I will not take you to breakfast.”

That shut Ara up quickly, fuck manners and getting Loki to not barge in like a teenager’s mother now that food was being dangled at her like the proverbial carrot. She hoped breakfast wasn’t actually carrots but at this point she would have ‘what’s up doc’-ed gratefully at any food. Maybe not kale, she wasn’t that hungry.

”No, please, I’ll stop,” Ara quickly got to her feet, slipping on the ballet flats she had left by the door. It wasn’t exactly a fashion look, she thought glancing at herself.

”Good girl,” there it was again, he’d said that to her before and a something crossed his face, too quickly for Ara to identify.

“Is this going to be like camp?” Ara only knew about that from American films, the Brits didn’t really send off their kids for fun activities it was more a case of drinking cider in the park with your mates than macrame over summer. Loki didn’t seem to know what she meant so she clarified, “will anyone else be there? Hey Black Widow please pass the toast, that sort of thing.”

”I do not take my meals with the others,” more accurately Loki rarely found himself in the presence of the Avengers unless strictly necessary. At one end of the corridor they came to a kitchen, high-tech as everything else and with a large table despite the fact Loki himself dined alone. 

Loki took the head of the table and dithering for a few seconds Ara sat directly beside him on his right. 

“What do you wish to eat?”

Choices! Ara hadn’t expected choices and having no parameters in this empty kitchen made it the opposite of fun, she didn’t know what was ok to ask for so she regretfully said, “just some cereal and milk is fine. Thanks.”

With a small movement and glimmer or gold that appeared in front of her, along with Loki’s meal which consisted of a plate of bacon and eggs, buttered toast and was that a side of pancakes, too. This was like going to a restaurant and regretting your terrible choice when your companion’s food looked amazing, Ara decided lifting a spoon of cold milk and plain cereal to her mouth while her eyes stayed glued to Loki’s plate.

”Something of interest catch your eye,” he said after a beat, voice amused and an eyebrow raised a Ara met his gaze.

”Well, I mean I didn’t know bacon was on offer,” Ara replied sheepishly and Loki gave a small chuckle and with another shimmer of gold her bowl was replaced by a matching breakfast to his.

Eating in silence wasn’t awkward, Loki preferred to observe over meaningless chatter and Ara was too gleeful at the food to want to waste any precious eating time talking. Once done the empty plates disappeared.

”Do those vanish or is there some pocket universe where someone has to wash them,” Ara said as she licked bacon grease from her fingers.

”They cease to be. Those however, and all of my soiled items, get relocated to Stark’s bed,” Loki replied and Ara couldn’t help but burst out laughing at the mischief in his voice.

Loki had insisted she tidy up after breakfast, apparently licking bacon juices from ones hands didn’t quite cut it and once she was done he led her to another room, this one took up several of the living quarters and had piles of books, bottles and jars of all sizes and looked like what she imagined a magician’s workshop would. She wasn’t wrong; it did and he was.

”I wish to explore your mind, more carefully this time,” he motioned for Ara to lay on a deep green leather couch, as wide and comfortable as a bed. It was old, not worn but as if he had been using it for decades. As it happened it was centuries, this along with much in this room came from his palace dwellings on Asgard.

”Why?”

”To see what resides there,” Ara didn’t understand exactly, or at all, what he meant but she had promised to help and feeling very awkward she lay down, looking up at those sharp features from a different angle. Yup, still beautiful even though she could sort of see up his nose.

Settling himself at her head so he was sideways to Ara with his feet on the ground, Loki touched a finger to her temple and those enquisitive brown eyes closed in sleep. His attempt to enter her thoughts when she had been awake had proved a terrible error, he hoped that if she rested it would allow him access without the consequences. The intention had been only to delve lightly but as Loki reached with his mind he felt himself yanked forwards with a rush, the experience unpleasant and resembling his fall but there was no painful landing, no tearing of his skin, bones and soul during.

His surroundings were of the deepest corners of space, young blue stars and dying red ones all around, whirlpool galaxies and supernovas in colours even his superior eyesight struggled to comprehend. Beneath his feet, and Loki noted he was now clad in full battle costume, including helm, there was a walkway a few metres wide and he knew with utmost certainty that if he stepped off it that he would die. In the distance she walked toward him, naked with her hair billowing around her. His eyes ached to look, the carbon tone of her skin pulling the light from his vision painfully. Her outline was blurry from the same effect, her very being engulfing any light near itself.

”Welcome,” she said, even her voice was different to Ara’s. 

“Who are you?” he questioned.

”I told you when we met, Aesir King; I am Death. If I touched you, you would turn to ash.”

“I am not an Aesir King, I am the God of Lies. Do not try to deceive me,” Loki outstretched his arm, running a hand across her shoulders and down to the curve of her breast his pale skin in stark contrast to her raven one.

She smiled, pleased not insulted he had seen through her ruse. Extending her fingertips, she brushed the leather of his chest and her touch did however turn all of his clothing to ash so he too stood naked as a flurry of black particles swirled around them. Minus the horns, those remained intact and anyone else would have looked foolish to stand naked with only them on but Loki, who possessed no shame only confidence, looked magnificent. She kissed him, hungrily clamping her mouth against his and Loki could feel her take his energy, not enough to wound him but for her own gratification and he shoved hard, enough that she crumpled to her knees, her round body vibrating and jiggling from the force.

”Did you not call me a king, so kneel girl,” he sneered before joining her he ground.

This time when her kiss took from him Loki let her, the drag and pull sensation filling his cock with blood and when her tongue found itself inside his mouth he bit hard, drawing blood and swallowing it. She yelled in pain but didn’t mind it, didn’t mind that he caged her body and trapped her beneath him. 

“Spread your legs for me before I force them open,” Loki growled and she complied, drawing her knees upwards which earned her a cruel chuckle. 

Loki wanted to pinch and pull every inch of ample flesh, to watch if her skin changed if he cut and bruised her expansive body for his pleasure and hers both but there was no time. Impatient and lustful he breached her in one thrust,  hilting his length inside of her welcoming cunt. Oh so welcoming from the way the moisture enveloped him, its owner just as greedy as her legs curled around his waist like a vice and met his every advance with one back. Even her sweat was black he noted, as it ran from her face down her neck.

“Come for your God,” Loki commanded when he felt himself near release, his hand reaching and twisting between them to press on her clit as she contracted and squeezed his shaft, screaming her orgasm. He felt his sac tighten and prepared to come but as he emptied himself the rushing that had brought him reappeared and he found himself atop the other Ara. Both naked and panting, her opening her eyes at the same time he did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It was so nice seeing this version of Ara and Loki again! I hope you enjoyed it too.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CN - There's a line about drunk sex and not feeling fully present as a metaphor (I think I mean metaphor) within the first paragraph.

That original time she was taken over, Ara retained no memory; at least she assumed it was the first time but if whatever had controlled her body had behaved more discreetly than at the embassy she knew, even if she wished she hadn't made the connection, that maybe it wasn't the first. This time there were blanks but for parts of it she had been present, as if coming in and out of consciousness but with the dulled feeling of a dream. Sight had come from behind the eyes of whoever was in charge of her not as a third party spectator. Touch and smell were there too but as with what she could see, it all felt lustreless and far away. Drunken sex was as close as to how she could describe it in that she didn't feel fully in the moment, at least until her eyes had  flown open and she experienced the god on top of her in technicolor. How his weight pressed into her, all hard angles digging into yielding curves. Sharpness between her legs, not painful, on the cusp of discomfort, but instead stretching her in _exactly_ the right way. 

Awareness at how and why she was beneath Loki, whose seed she could feel leaking now the size of him decreased having spent himself inside of her, didn't help this unforeseen surprise and Ara tried to pull herself from him but he was too heavy and his weight trapped her. Head twisting to find where her clothes had gone, Ara wanted to throw something over herself and separate them at least somewhat to give herself the chance to think but from what she could see the floor was bare.

Growing distress obvious, Loki lifted his body from Ara, his own gaze searching for clothing but could find no evidence of any of what they’d previously worn. A set of Midgardian attire, smart black trousers and a matching, soft woolen jumper appeared on his body, seidr shimmering them into existence. Copies of the comfortable clothing he’d seen those in the tower wear in their downtime had been what he’d conjured for her the previous day. Loki created a second set to replace them and they appeared on a low table near the sofa, which was occupied by some of the two dozen or so books he was presently reading until a second ago. Beside them was a copper bowl filled with fragrant smelling warm water and a small cloth. In his right hand a deep, garnet blanket appeared and turning his head for her modesty, of what little was left considering his shaft had been throbbing inside of her only moments prior, Loki handed it over not looking at Ara and took to his feet. 

”I assume you would prefer privacy. If you call out when you are ready for me to return,” he disappeared from the room, which startled rather than reassured Ara.

She had plucked the cloth from his fingers and draped it on herself and with Loki gone, Ara sat for a handful of minutes composing her thoughts. The world as she knew it had drastically altered in the space of seventy-two hours. It wasn’t finding herself yanked from a dream and under an ejaculating alien that was causing this as much as the build up of everything. Shock, she reasoned when she remained still, not moving even as the steam from the bowl lessened and then disappeared entirely indicating she had been this way for more than just minutes. Ara could tell she should clean herself and dress, it seemed very reasonable to do that but she couldn’t will her body into moving to begin, only clutch at the blanket that was draped on her front from her chest to her feet and watch her blue painted toes peeking out from the fringing and forming a mix of Red, White and Blue along with her pale skin. Not Loki pale, granted, beside him she almost seemed tanned.

“Ara,” Loki’s familiar voice was muffled by the heavy door as he knocked. “I’ve left you for over a full hour.” Hearing no reply, though he could tell she was inside the room, he parted the door slowly and saw the girl had not moved from the position she had sat in when he’d left. “You were supposed to clean yourself and call to me,” he reminded her but Ara didn’t tilt her head upwards to meet his face. 

Hearing and understanding Loki wasn’t the problem but actually acknowledging him fell into Things That Were Quite Impossible Right Now, Thank You. Instead Ara met his eyes when he took the seat beside her as that involved little to no movement on her part because leaned his head in front of hers. Wanting to agree with what he’d said but in reality just appearing to be a staring, lifeless doll.

”Very well,” Loki sighed. “I don’t believe you would appreciate if I touched you directly therefore I’m going to do this with magic.” Once Ara was clad in the jumper and soft pants, her body clean and fresh, Loki who had stood back up took a hold of each of her forearms and pulled her to her feet. “Walk with me, come on I’m taking you back to your room.” Mercifully, now she was vertical, Ara found following him was within her range of manageable tasks. “We should discuss what occurred when you are feeling more in command of yourself,” Loki told her when he had escorted her inside and helped her into bed, changing the sheets which held the faint scent of sweat and bad dreams - those also appeared on Stark’s bed - with a small wave.

Not remembering Loki leaving the room, Ara only realised she had slept when she woke up with that disorientated feeling you get from sleeping unexpectedly. No light could be seen from the blinds and she supposed it must be night time again, her stomach agreeing with her that it was too long since breakfast. Wishing she had been more with it to ask Loki if there was at least a tv, Ara padded to the bathroom and held her hair back as she drank from the tap after making herself more comfortable. Lacking shoes, she had been barefoot on the journey back to this room, as well as underwear seeing as the clothes Loki had given her this second time again had none, Ara felt odd as she stepped outside. Unaccustomed to going anywhere without either, she wanted to cross her arms over her chest feeling naked and on show despite the loose sportswear. 

Loki raised his eyes from the book he was reading, reclining on the green leather and stretched out with his ankles crossed. It had not been essential that he stay on this level, he could have taken his leave with the girl asleep but as it wasn't an inconvenience, he voluntarily spent the majority of his time isolated anyway, he had remained. J.A.R.V.I.S, Stark's automated system would alert the Avengers if she changed and was a danger, his presence was unnecessary but after their tryst he found himself too curious to step out. There were times he would glamour his appearance and leave the Tower, requiring air that was not repackaged and pumped from the ceiling, even if what was outside did barely pass as fresh. 

Gently knocking, Ara paused on the other side hoping Loki was in there because otherwise she didn't know where to go. Was there even a point making her way to the lifts, surely someplace as high-tech as this would have key cards or at least codes as she didn’t remember seeing Loki sport a lanyard like some government office worker. If there wasn't any answer she would have no option but to try only to her luck - was anything about this situation really getting assigned as luck - she found herself looking at Loki’s chest when the door swung open.

"See, you knock and wait," she quipped softly.

"No, _you_ knock and wait," Loki replied, a hint of mirth and arrogance in his expression but no malice before turning on his heel and going back inside, expecting Ara to follow.

Awkwardly, Ara looked to the couch where Loki had made himself comfortable and was sipping on a green, opaque beverage from an earthenware mug that smelled of, well she had no idea of what but whatever the liquid it didn't smell great.

"What's that?" she asked, with a wrinkle of her nose.

"It does not taste much better than it smells," Loki didn't offer up any further information why he would be drinking something that both smelt and tasted grim. "If you wish to sit, do so. I will not be fussing after you the way a new mother does with her babe, you have the ability to speak where an infant does not."

"Okay, well I'm hungry," Ara had no reason to feel hurt by his dismissive nature, they didn't know each other, well I mean in one way they were now very familiar but they weren't friends, he was right he didn't have to baby her. Yet she did, she wasn't some magical alien or superhero rolling with the punches, whatever was happening to her was scary and she felt her eyes prick with tears that her only companion in this couldn't even fake giving a little of a damn and blinked them back rapidly to get a hold of herself. "And," she started again once she was certain her voice wouldn't wobble, "I would like something to wear that doesn't feel like I should be at the gym or are jammies. Including underwear, because that doesn’t seem to be an obvious to you. Oh and I need shoes. Please."

He would not say he regretted his offhand manner, Loki didn’t wish to have this Midgardian woman limpet herself to him when his interest in her extended toward the creature that was joined to her rather than the less interesting mortal housing her. So why was it that when he saw the clear signs of upset from Ara he wondered if he should alter his approach. Really how pitiful was her nature that a handful of simple, not even cruel words had caused Ara to look so crestfallen. 

"There is hardly a need to cry because I am reminding you that while I am willing to aid you I am not going to be a serf nor friend to you."

"I didn't cry," Ara's cheeks turned pink then in annoyance. "I'm sorry for expecting a little niceness, I didn't know that was too hard for you or that being someone’s friend would be so terrible. I don't have to be here. I’m the one who offered to help but I don't want to be around you any more," she crossly said and despite her protesting stomach stormed out, heading not to her room this time.

”Stand there all you like, that elevator isn’t going to appear,” Loki joined Ara who was crossly waiting in front of the gleaming stainless steel doors and hoping for a miracle as there wasn’t a touchpad. “It scans those waiting and only if someone with clearance is present will it run.”

”How many of your night time visitors found that out the hard way when trying to sneak out,” Ara muttered, not really asking a question.

”Those on your planet hold no interest to have in my bed,” Loki said waspishly, he had no cause to fetch her, even his curiosity in how she and whatever manner of being the one he had intended to bed held a limited diversion but yet he had come instead of leaving the silly girl to stand there all night and she insisted on behaving in this immature manner.

There he went again saying things that shouldn’t have a negative impact on her but did. “I want to go. I can’t help, I didn’t kill anyone and I am going home so please call the damn lift!”

”Why are your kind so utterly foolish. Do you believe someone found with twenty corpses strewn in pieces and soaked in their blood will be put in a car and waved away. You can pretend to cooperate and have me or you are welcome to let S.H.I.E.L.D lock you up and be far less careful with your life while they study you.”

”Like I’m not locked up now with you.”

”You would be confined to one locked room and experimented upon. By all means, I’ll step forward and summon the carriage.”

”You’re trying to scare me.”

”Yes, but that doesn’t mean I am incorrect.” He would not tell her, it wasn’t her business, but he knew first hand what S.H.I.E.L.D did to those in their _care_. Not that it had worked, even in a weakened state he was too strong for them to touch and he refused the taste of all food and drink. Thor had been less than pleased, New York City had experienced some unexpected weather when he’d found out, discovering how they had attempted to treat Loki for the forty-eight hours he had left him with them, visiting his mortal lover in advance of leaving her second time; uncertain how long Odin would require his presence. As it turned out he was soon back on earth, with the God of Lies in tow following the old bastard’s ruling.

Sighing defeatedly Ara turned to look at Loki and tried to be firm, maybe even a bit petulant, “I’m still hungry. And still without underwear.”

”Tell me, why are you suddenly coy? You were naked before me hours ago. Far more than naked, girl. I know how your cunt contracts when it comes,” his eyes flashed in mischief, knowing his words would land.

Ruddy cheeks were from a blush now instead of anger, the rug pulled away from her but she tried to metaphorically steady herself, “what do you care. I’m a gross human remember, not the sort you’d ever willingly have in your bed.” She was feeling a little proud of herself for her sass but thirty-four was no match for 1374 and Loki looked utterly nonchalant.

”Perhaps, perhaps not. Now come; food then we’ll see what to do about your clothing and what you should be wearing.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m finding my footing with this Loki. I’m not entirely sure who he is yet. I know he’s not mad (iyswim. He’s always mad deep or not deep down). I don’t know if he intends to serve the full punishment, I don’t think he knows himself but obviously being the opportunist he is if he can get out of it, he will. He’s more playful than the other Loki and has far more interest and a curiosity about Death than Ara but even if it’s not the sort of audience he feels he deserves he seems to not be 100% opposed to having someone to show off to. I know our dear would be [Tyrannical] World Leader is mercurial but I hope that things aren’t changing at a pace you don’t feel has him fall from character.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Friday the 13th <3 I hope you’re doing something spoopy later. I’m finally going to watch Hereditary.

Glancing at her soles, Ara was expecting to find her feet dirty, she  _had_ been walking around barefoot but no they were their usual pink. Was this the future, everything so clean it could almost be a lab. Was it just normal for vastly rich people to have no signs of living anywhere, didnt a little bit of dust just show you existed. Further to that how did they time the cleaners to come when Loki wasn't there being all glowery and were they paid danger money. Of course these musings were simply a way to distract herself from the alien demi-god to her left, she had again taken the chair to his right in the kitchen that rivalled a restaurant.

"Isn't there a way to have normal groceries. I mean you  _pooft_ a good meal but what if you're not around?" Ara asked.

"Pooft...not a term I have heard used to describe my seidr before, nor one I am especially eager to hear again. Very well, I will get the automated system to send a message to ensure the refrigeration unit and cupboards are stocked for you while you remain with me. I have not required this so far and the few who reside on this floor are mostly absent and part of S.H.I.L.D They have never taken their meals on this level, I don’t believe they’d dare. You will have to familiarise yourself with the cooking implements, I have no interest in how they work," nor did he, a Prince, have any wish at all to learn. 

"Can I pick?" Ara felt shy asking not that she could pinpoint why exactly but it had to do with how unaccustomed she was having to run her life choices through another person and there was something to do with food, household products, etc. all those things were personal choices. In some way it would help her feel less like a prisoner, which he had pointed out she clearly was either here or in smaller quarters and with added pain. It was unlikely she would have ended up having sex with anyone if she hadn’t been brought to him. That was a good thing right, the not having and certainly not repeating. Right? It didn’t matter anyway, aside from Loki being an ass about it by the lifts to embarrass her he made it clear how very uninterested he was in humans. Good. She wasn’t interested in him either. 

"If you write a list I will hand it over to a member of staff when I am next gone," anyone would do, he wasn’t going hunting for someone appropriate, let whichever unlucky mortal cross his path first be the one to do that. Loki's patience was beginning to wear thin, however. He had conceded to the first thing and now she wanted him to essentially run an errand.

”When you go, could I come with you?”

”No.”

”Why not?” Ara was starting to feel stressed and oppressed by the lack of other people and natural light. It was like being in a less haunted version of the Overlook, corridors and personality lacking rooms, aside from that big space Loki had as a study-library hybrid. The big, heavy blackout curtains had been drawn when he’d taken her there in the morning and it was dark by the time she’d made her own way to him post nap.

”Because I have told you no,” Loki could see how ridiculous the turn the conversation had taken was. There was no reason she could not accompany him but he hadn’t wanted to be overly agreeable. While he hadn’t wanted her pathetically dependant on him, having her be aware that he could deny her was useful. “Now eat.”

Ok so dinner didn’t come with choices the way breakfast had Ara realised when a plate laden with roast meat slices appeared in front of her along with potatoes and something green and leafy. Ara wanted to chuckle, this lofty man, royalty she had seen in the papers back home, had made a meal of meat and two veg like a working class Yorkshire mam on a Sunday. Not that it looked like beef or lamb. Maybe something gamey? She didn’t want to ask, he was eating and his face, still utterly gorgeous she had to admit, looked incredibly annoyed. What a big baby, she hadn’t asked for glass slippers and a private jet, just the ability to pick some snacks and go for an accompanied walk. 

“Bilgesnipe,” Loki spoke once they had eaten.

“What?”

”You were wondering what you were eating. They are a four legged, tusked beast from Asgard.”

”You know what I was thinking? Wait you fed me alien meat without asking, isn’t that kind of rude?” It had tasted nice but wasn’t it common curtesy if giving people something out of the ordinary to check.

”If you are so distraught about what you were given maybe you should go without next time until your supplies have arrived,” he didn’t reply about reading her thoughts. It was clear he was able, the depths of how far Ara could be left to wonder about.

”Don’t be spiteful. I’m just saying, if I offered you a hot-dog I would give you a heads up in advance but thank you for dinner,” she didn’t push about the other thing, if he didn’t want to answer he wouldn’t. “You said food then clothes, we’ve done part one so can I please get a dress or some jeans, anything that doesn’t make me feel like I’m in a hospital or worse yet, hospice.”

”Is this more to your taste?” Loki brushed his fingers across Ara’s shoulders, mouth twisting unkindly, and she looked down to see an exact copy of the dress she had been in when she’d met him. This one wasn’t blood soaked but the memories flooded back to her nevertheless and the two tined fork she had been absentmindedly playing with clattered from her fingers to the ceramic plate below noisily.

”You hateful creature,” Ara cried out, eyes brimming with tears as she pushed her chair back with a scrape and ran out of the room.

Loki wandered back in his own time, passing her door and finding the garment pooled on the floor outside of it. Stupid mortal, choosing to eschew manners and spurn his gift even if it had been laced with mocking cruelty. Not knocking Loki entered the room, ready to bring Ara down a few rungs and remind her of her place. He was being charitable in sparing this ill equipped girl the trauma of being a true prisoner and she was ungrateful at every turn. At least, that was what he had intended but seeing her bare shoulders shake, he had purposely failed to give her any undergarments after she demanded them, as Ara sobbed into one of her pillows laying on her front made him pause and just observe a moment.

”You should stop that, you can’t change your situation with tears,” he spoke over her wailing, tone oddly kinder than he’d intended.

”Go away,” a muffled Ara told him before unburying her face, which was blotchy and damp. She had a hold of the bedsheet and despite the high thread count, Loki could see the outline of her breasts through the cotton. “Have you come to be horrible where I sleep too. What did I do to you that you’d remind me how I hurt those people. Why? I mean I didn’t do it but I did, right. I get it, crystal clear this time, you’re not here to look after me or be kind.” Ara returned to her previous position, placing her head down and crying still.

It wasn’t a lack of care that caused Loki to tell Ara that tears were meaningless as much as lessons he had learned himself long ago. Even before puberty he had been inadvertently taught by Odin who valued the qualities Thor, the stronger, fiercer and more outspoken child had over his own more thoughtful nature. Who did not understand sparring among the boys did not need to mean there was a winner and a loser and that the loser was punished. If not always outright than through indifference and disappointment. Frigga showed love and care yes it was true but she never overruled her husband. Always the King, even in familial matters that had nothing to do with ruling the Nine. Going around the other side of the bed Loki sat down with his back on the headboard and legs flat. When he touched Ara this time a shift appeared in a pale beige, a soft sleeping dress to cover her modesty and when she batted his hand away he clasped her wrist easily and dragged her on top of his lap ignoring her protests.

”Hush, Ara. You are dressed, fed and not alone. For all that might be to come, rest now,” it took Ara a while longer to calm down and stop weeping, Loki’s arms stayed around her and his eyes closed in a resting but not sleeping manner. Once she did it didn’t take long for her to sleep on top of this confusing and changeable man. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ara's pooft is special to me. Just like Loki does not like her to wear underwear, especially not bras which limit the jiggle of her tits.


End file.
